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Tuesday, June 24, 2014

UK: How We Want to Stop Radical Islam, by Irfan Al-Alawi

The most important issue is the
proposed mosque's patronage by Tablighi Jamaat [TJ], a group based on
the radical doctrines of the Deobandi sect, which inspires the Taliban
and other terrorist groups.
Deobandis, the progenitors of TJ, have been fighting for control of
the British Muslim Community. TJ has made clear that its interest is not
that of serving the Muslims' spiritual needs, but of creating a Western
European base.
Since the time of the Prophet Muhammad, Muslims who emigrate to
non-Muslim lands have been called on to accept the laws and customs of
the country to which they move. British Muslims have stood up in the
past against the proposed TJ mega-mosque; they have a duty to protect
their community and the broader society in which they live by
repudiating all extremist doctrines, and by repairing conflicts with
their non-Muslim neighbours.

Anti-radical Muslims must break their silence to oppose the revived
for building a Tablighi Jamaat [TJ] mega-mosque in the West Ham
neighbourhood of London. Mobilisation against the mega-mosque should
include Muslims of all interpretations who are moderate, traditional,
conventional and even conservative, in all locations where TJ is active.
TJ cadres are mainly present in South Asia, the United Kingdom, Western
Europe, Southeast Asia, and North America.
The mega-mosque proposal had been perceived as ruled out of
consideration after Newham Council, which governs the borough in which
West Ham is located, rejected
the application for its construction in December 2012. The previous
year, Newham Council had heard and turned down a petition for placement
of a mosque at the site.
Nevertheless, the mega-mosque supporters were later granted a
temporary right to occupy the property for two years, according to the
local Newham Recorder. During that period, about 3,000 congregants used the location as a mosque. That permission has now expired.
Newham Council's Strategic Development Committee in 2012 found that
the TJ mosque concept was too grandiose and would generate too much
local traffic. The TJ mega-mosque promoters called for a structure that
would accommodate 9,000 people at prayer, and, as detailed by the Newham Recorder,
"a segregated space for nearly 2,000 women, a library, dining hall,
visitors' centre, and eight flats for imams and guests, along with
tennis courts, football pitches, a garden, and a riverside walk along
Abbey Creek."
Also in 2012, Newham Council pointed out that the former chemical
plant on the land where the mega-mosque was to be located is "heavily"
polluted, an issue that has not been addressed by the proponents of the
scheme, who call themselves the Anjuman-E-Islahul-Muslimeen Trust and
the Riverine Trust.
In May 2014, however, as reported in the Newham Recorder, the
unanimous disapproval of the mega-mosque by Newham Council in 2012 was
scheduled for review by the Planning Inspectorate for England and Wales,
an arm of the UK central government. A determination will then be made
by Eric Pickles, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government
in the current Conservative cabinet of David Cameron, as to whether the
mega-mosque will be allowed to proceed.
For anti-radical Muslims, the most important issue in countering the
mega-mosque is its patronage by Tablighi Jamaat – as shown by the
attempt to name the complex the "Masjid-i-Ilyas" or "Ilyas Mosque" after
Muhammad Ilyas Kandhlavi (1885-1944), who was born in Uttar Pradesh,
north India. TJ was created as a preaching movement based on the radical
doctrines of the Deobandi sect, in which Kandhlavi studied. Deobandism
is known mainly as the Islamic interpretation that inspires the Taliban
in Pakistan and Afghanistan, as well as terrorist groups attacking
spiritual Sufis, Shia Muslims, and others whom the Deobandis have
declared to be apostates.
The London mega-mosque has been labelled variously as the Markaz or Central Mosque and the Abbey Mills Mosque, but no effort has been made to disguise its TJ affiliation.
Opposition to the TJ mega-mosque in West Ham has been led by a
Christian former West Ham councillor, Alan Craig. Mr. Craig directs a
protest campaign, MegaMosqueNoThanks. Mr. Craig's group expects that Secretary Pickles will hand down a decision on the mega-mosque in autumn of this year.

British Muslims have stood up in the past against the TJ mega-mosque in West Ham. MegaMosqueNoThanks points out that 2,500 Muslims in Newham signed a petition against the TJ project.
One Muslim woman who denounced the TJ plan previously, Tehmina Kazi,
founder of British Muslims for Secular Democracy, gave striking
testimony against TJ in the 2011 hearings on the mega-mosque plan. She
declared then,
"TJ discourages integration into British society, especially of female
members, since they essentially do not communicate with non-Muslims ...
Instead, female members... are kept secluded and the values surrounding
this seclusion are transmitted to their children."
Tehmina Kazi was scheduled to give testimony in the Planning
Commission this month but a withdrawal of her participation was sent to
the Commission on June 3, the day it began its deliberations. Tehmina
Kazi has been "reassured" that TJ will improve its posture toward women,
Mr. Craig said.
But expecting such a change from a multimillion-member fundamentalist
movement based in South Asia is absurd. The current mosque still has not
admitted women
Deobandis, the progenitors of TJ, have been fighting for control of
the British Muslim community. In a total of about three million British
Muslims, according to UK census
figures released in 2011, almost two million, or near 70%, are of South
Asian origin. Among the British Asian Muslims, Deobandis are mainly
opposed by Barelvis, a Sufi-oriented sect that stresses obedience to the
laws and customs of non-Muslim countries to which Islamic believers may
emigrate -- a long-standing Islamic principle.
TJ has made clear that its interest in the West Ham mega-mosque is
not that of serving local Muslims' spiritual needs, but of creating a
Western European base.
The Cambridge-based firm NRAP Architects has submitted a design for
the mega-mosque that is closer to British norms in appearance, but is
still extremely large and invasive, as seen in images posted by Mr. Craig.
The urgent need for Muslims in Britain and around the world to speak
out against the London mega-mosque scheme is based on strong traditional
Islamic precepts.
First, opponents of Deobandi radicalism must counter and defeat its destructive ideology.
Mosques should be built to accommodate the needs of local worshippers, not ideological ambitions.
Further, as noted, since the time of Prophet Muhammad, Muslims who
emigrate to non-Muslim lands have been called on to accept the laws and
customs of the country to which they move. Not only the radical ideology
of the TJ mega-mosque, but also its intrusive size, infringes on the
sensibilities of its non-Muslim neighbours in a manner not respectful of
British customs.
British Muslims have experienced significant problems with
non-Muslims because of terrorist incidents, from the London tube
bombings of July 7, 2005, to the horrifying incident
last year in which a British soldier, Lee Rigby, was publicly run over
by a car and hacked to death by two British-Nigerian jihadists.
As people of religion, British Muslims have the duty to protect their
own community and the broader society in which they live by repudiating
all extremist doctrines, including Deobandism, and by repairing
conflicts that have already emerged with their non-Muslim neighbours.
Saying no to the Tablighi Jamaat mega-mosque in West Ham is an
indispensable action in fulfilment of this devoutly Islamic mission.